Politics and photography have a lot in common. If you believe Susan Sontag, they involve a desire to control and frame reality. Taking pictures has become a method to certify experience, whereas the news have become a way of interpreting the world according to our interests. The notion that it is possible to do so with impunity explains why we struggle nowadays to distinguish what is convenient from what is right. Pragmatic consensus has become the exception, and a society divided between doctrinaire camps has become the norm. Public discourse has become uncivil, and an obsession with messianic leaders and theatrical narratives has prevented us from focusing on the real problems that afflict our societies.
Showbiz politics
Politics today have become yet another form of entertainment. Campaigns are not run by defending a particular notion of happiness, but by transforming politicians into celebrities. Debates are not about political knowledge, but likeability. Representatives across the aisle are more than our adversaries, and building bridges is rarely an option. Attempts to understand different points of view require looking through inverted lenses – something neither easy nor comfortable – and most politicians do not have an appetite for low-key politics in the age of spectacle and social media.
Donald Trump is a byproduct of the times we are living. An incompetent President for a system that was unable to adapt to economic disruption and inequality. Most of his leadership has been done on Twitter, and all that Mr. Trump has to offer outside the digital world are thoughtless foreign policy decisions and a disturbing fondness for authoritarian regimes. Few presidents have been able to inflict such damage in such a period of time. Even fewer political parties have willingly committed their future to a President that has no respect for neither democratic institutions nor the rule of law.
